(a) Field
Exemplary embodiments of the invention relate to a liquid crystal lens and a display device including the liquid crystal lens.
(b) Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a three-dimensional (“3D”) stereoscopic image display device has been developed, and various methods for displaying a 3D image have been studied.
A method that is the most widely used in implementing a stereoscopic image is a method using binocular disparity. In the method using binocular disparity, two images including an image reaching the left eye and an image reaching the right eye are displayed on the same display device, and the two images are allowed to be incident to the left eye and the right eye of an observer, respectively. That is, the images observed at different angles are input to both eyes, such that the observer recognizes the image as a stereoscopic image.
In the method using binocular disparity, a method used to allow the images to be incident to the left eye and the right eye of the observer, respectively, may include a method using a barrier and a method using a lenticular lens such as a cylindrical lens.
In a stereoscopic image display device using the barrier, a slit is provided at the barrier, and the image from the display device is divided into a left eye image and a right eye image through the slit, such that the divided images are incident to the left eye and the right eye of the observer.
In a stereoscopic image display device using the lens, a left eye image and a right eye image are displayed, and the image from the stereoscopic image display device is divided into the left eye image and the right eye image by changing an optical path thereof using the lens.
Recently, a display device for displaying both a two-dimensional image and a 3D image has been developed by switching a mode for displaying a plane image to a mode for displaying a stereoscopic image, and a lens that operates based on the switching the modes has been also developed.